S306 Lonely Hearts
by ZenosParadox
Summary: RS. Hoshi realizes she's not the only one with a lonely heart. Missing scenes for Exile, Season 3, Episode 6.


Title: S306 Lonely Hearts Author: ZenosParadoxRating: PG  
  
Summary: RS. Hoshi realizes she's not the only one with a lonely heart. Missing scenes for Exile, Season 3, Episode 6.  
  
Notes: Mild spoilers for Exile. 4 pages. Written October 16, 2003. Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount. This fiction was written solely for personal enjoyment.  
  
LONELY HEARTS  
  
Lieutenant Reed turned to Ensign Sato with a look of concern as he stood in her quarters. A slight smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he viewed the woman. The off-duty outfit she was wearing accentuated her well-toned legs, but his smile resulted from the sharp contrast between her informal attire and her current bearing. She was standing in a very familiar posture with her arms across her chest. Perhaps they had been crewmates for too long.  
  
"There's nothing here, Ensign. I'll run a full scan and check the logs, but there's no indication of an intruder."  
  
"I know what I heard, Lieutenant," said Sato somewhat defensively. Reed had seen her at her absolute worst--several times. First it was the scream when they found the exsanguinated aliens, then it was toplesss during the Suliban invasion and recently it had been as some sort of extinct alien species. He must think she was a nutcase.  
  
"I'm not saying that the voice wasn't real, Hoshi. I simply can't detect the source. I'll let you know if I find anything," said Reed, knowing he would be up all night reviewing the logs just to ease his mind. "I can post a security guard at your door if you like."  
  
Sato shook her head and sighed, "No, that won't be--wait. I'd like a phase pistol."  
  
Her gaze was calm and direct as she made her request, so he offered her the phase pistol from his holster. "I thought you might feel that way. Here, it's fully charged. Now I'd recommend you get some sleep."  
  
After Reed left, Sato took the phase pistol and placed it beneath her pillow. The presence of the weapon eased her mind a little, just as it had when they first entered the Expanse. Still, she couldn't relax. She pulled open a drawer and found the blue t-shirt, her one reward for facing her claustrophobia and crawling through the maintenance tubes. She was soon tucked in bed, the phase pistol at hand, and the cotton garment offering her comfort and relieving some of the loneliness.  
  
And in the Armory, Reed was beginning his survey of the scanner logs. As he completed his task, his mind kept drifting to the Ensign. She had grown during their time aboard the Enterprise, so he had no doubt she had heard something. She had his respect and his admiration, but he quickly reined in his wandering thoughts. Still, the intrusive images of Hoshi Sato dampened the loneliness that he harbored in his heart. He hoped she was sleeping well.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"And what did he look like when he appeared to you as a human?" asked Reed while Sato was gathering her things for her stay on the planet with Tarquin. They had just returned from their initial visit and the tactical officer was not pleased by her decision. "Was there any resemblance to the alien we saw?"  
  
Sato shook her head as she grabbed the dresses out of her closet. One was a soft blue and the other was peach colored. She began her report absently. "Tarquin appeared as a man of about--your height, clean shaven, like you are, with dark hair like yours, and it was cut short. Just. Like. Yours."  
  
She looked at Reed as she realized the resemblance. Reed was now standing with his arms across his chest and a question in his eyes. He said, "I hope that's where the resemblance ended."  
  
"You're our Tactical Officer. You make me feel safe, so I suppose he emulated your physical characteristics so that I'd trust him."  
  
"And do you? Trust him, I mean?"   
  
"You don't like the idea of my staying, do you? I can take care of myself, you know."  
  
"It's not that I think you're incapable of handling yourself. I just don't like the fact that we have to leave you alone."  
  
"I'm accustomed to being alone, Lieutenant," said Sato softly. She looked in his eyes and saw understanding.   
  
Reed looked at the phase pistol that was on Sato's bed. "I think you should take the weapon with you."  
  
Sato suppressed a smile at his serious tone. "Lieutenant, I think a telepath is likely to know I'm armed."  
  
"That's the whole point, Ensign."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Sato as she put the pistol into her bag. She looked at Reed and added with a soft smile, "I'll be fine. I've been trained by an expert on taking care of myself."  
  
"Don't take any unnecessary risks, Ensign. We need you back on Enterprise." Reed looked away abruptly as the words left his mouth.   
  
Sato registered that his tone had been softer toward her, just as it had been on the bridge earlier. "Well, I hope the Xindi bedbugs won't bite while I'm gone. I'll bring the phase pistol back to the Armory without it being discharged."  
  
As Reed watched her walk out of her quarters, he muttered under his breath, "I hope so, Ensign."  
  
A sliver of loneliness crept through his heart for a moment as he saw her go, but he shook off the feeling and reported for duty.   
  
-----  
  
Tarquin sat at the table considering his success. Hoshi Sato was indeed his guest, a minor victory considering how suspicious Malcolm Reed had been. The telepath had been interested in meeting the Lieutenant after encountering him through Hoshi's thoughts. The woman worried that she didn't meet Reed's standards while at the same time she valued the sense of security his presence fostered. She tried to do things to impress Reed at times with variable success.   
  
The telepath was able to read some species upon close proximity and was happy when he found he could read the tactical officer somewhat. The feelings of protectiveness were emanating very strongly from both men, but there was an undertone of personal interest in Hoshi's well being from Reed. It was this realization that prompted an important decision in Tarquin. He would need to use extreme measures to ensure that Hoshi Sato remained as his new companion. He couldn't afford to let her return to Enterprise, not with Reed on board.   
  
Tarquin relaxed for a moment. He had ensured that Hoshi had every comfort. Surely she would become enchanted with her surroundings and see the value of what he had to offer her. He hoped she was sleeping soundly. Her very presence relieved his loneliness.   
  
But Sato was again wrapped in the cotton t-shirt with a phase pistol under her pillow. It was her first night as Tarquin's guest, but sleep evaded her. Even Reed's t-shirt wasn't helping, so she reviewed recent events.  
  
Hoshi smiled as she remembered how sweet Malcolm had been in disclosing his own paranoid incident featuring insectoid Xindi and clicking noises. She had been too upset to appreciate the effort he was making to open up at the time. It was odd how well they could work together, but still managed to be off in their interpersonal communication. They were friends in their own isolated manner.   
  
She shook her head as she realized that she and Malcolm faced the same issues in making connections with people. Behind her facade of congeniality she held a wall of aloofness. Malcolm's behaviors were more honest in that he acknowledged his deficits in social skills and his wall of solitude was apparent to everyone.   
  
Isolation was a familiar acquaintance for both of them, however. Perhaps they should start a Lonely Hearts Club when she returned? Hoshi chuckled at the thought and finally drifted to sleep.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"It retained its full charge, Lieutenant," said Sato as she entered the Armory to return the phase pistol. It felt good to be back on Enterprise, although she was disappointed she had nothing to show for her time with Tarquin.  
  
"I've read your report, Ensign. I must say I admire your choice of tactics," said Reed as he referred to Sato's threat to destroy Tarquin's communication orb.   
  
"I don't like being manipulated," said Sato in response. "I almost feel sorry for Tarquin. He's the ultimate lonely heart."  
  
Reed had a faint quirk to his lips as he said, "There are plenty of lonely hearts right here on Enterprise. We don't want pity."  
  
"No, we don't," said Sato with a faint smile of her own. She put the phase pistol in his hand, but let her fingers flutter briefly against his as she withdrew.   
  
Tarquin's words had made her face the loneliness she carried with her again. Perhaps it was time to say goodbye to that old friend and foster a new one, one who would understand the need for solitude and silence, someone who also had carried the burden of a lonely heart. And in that process, two people could ultimately be healed.  
  
"I was just going to dinner, Hoshi. Care to join me?"  
  
"Tell you what, Malcolm. I just had a craving for soba noodles and it's been a while since we've had dinner in my quarters. Why don't you let me cook? Unless you can't wait."  
  
"I can wait," said Malcolm. For you I can wait as long as you need, he thought.  
  
-----  
  
Tarquin was in his great and lonely mansion. He had projected himself one last time to Hoshi Sato to give her information on the Xindi. Although he had told her he hoped she would change her mind, he knew it was not to be.   
  
This time when he had read Hoshi's mind, her sense of loneliness was diminished. Somehow between the time he had let her go and visited her again, she had begun to nurture a connection with someone that relieved her lonely heart.   
  
Tarquin's head dropped wearily and said, "You are a lucky man, Malcolm Reed."  
  
*****  
  
Author Notes:  
  
Hoshi's fondness for soba noodles came as a neat surprise in Exile since I had just used that in a missing scene. And I did think Tarquin's human form looked an awful lot like Malcolm.  
  
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